Chocolate in marijuana edibles is skewing potency levels in tests

A new study suggests that chocolate is throwing off potency results of cannabis in tests, appearing to suppress the levels of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. That means the THC levels listed on packaging labels for edibles may be lower than they actually are in the edible, according to new research presented at the American Chemical Society Fall 2019 National Meeting & Exposition.

The study referred to the suppression as "a matrix effect," which means the more chocolate in an edible, the less THC that is detected.